Have you ever given a thought to your sleep habits? The good, the bad, and the ugly? If you suffer from insomnia or just failing to get a decent sleep in general, implementing healthy sleep habits can be the answer to your sleepless nights.
Rumour has it that Vincent Van Gogh dealt with his insomnia by dousing his mattress and pillow in camphor. Say what?! Yes, camphor, the compound that is very toxic if ingested regularly.
Adding camphor overuse to drinking absinthe and eating paint, he formed a bunch of bad habits that gradually did poison him, thus possibly contributing to his insanity that eventually drove him to suicide.
Now, Vincent was a great artist with unique kind of creativity, but these are not the sleep habits I want you to emulate, nor the fate I want you to meet!
Instead, let’s take inspiration from more health-conscious successful contemporaries:
- Bill Gates sleeps for 7 hours a night and spends every evening reading biographies, books on philosophy and magazines before going to bed.
- Arianna Huffington has banned all electronic devices from her bedroom and sleeps for at least 8 hours a night.
- Richard Branson recently gave up his few glasses of alcohol in the evenings and now drinks sparkling water with lemon, sleeps for 6 hours a night and is up at 5am to exercise.
- Meanwhile, the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Lady Gaga, and Emma Watson are big fans of journaling to bring about most restful sleep.
Inspired yet?
Why Good Sleep Habits Are Critical To Your Health and Success
Next to food and water, sleep is one of the most important things that humans need to survive and function.
As the immediacy of technology increases online engagement and visibility, it seems that issues with sleep are only becoming more common.
Studies about sleep and sleep habits have revealed interesting information about things that successful people have in common.
The findings suggest that sleep plays a critical role for those who have experienced substantial successes in their professional lives.
Would the contrast of outcomes between successful people and those who tend to struggle in life make you curious about how you can switch to following the sleep habits of successful people?
Not All Sleep Is Equal
It’s important to note that your quality of sleep can influence how you feel in a big way.
If you want to get the most out of sleep, you want to aim for deep sleep that is uninterrupted.
This is because shorter sleep periods don’t allow your brain to reach sleep stages. These deep sleep stages serve the purpose of mental restoration and physical repairs.
This is when your body and mind can recharge and repair to full capacity. In other words, you are reset to factory setting.
When you go without these daily maintenance phases, your body quickly becomes fatigued. And then there is no real way to get the time that you’ve lost back. You can only continue forward with better habits than the ones you’ve had before.
Some studies have even concluded that those sleep phases are so important, that it’s better to sleep less in an uninterrupted cycle than to sleep for longer on the shallower end of your sleep stages.
Researchers have also tied lack of complete sleep phases to a decreased ability for individuals to relate and connect with others. This is due to a diminished ability to feel empathy, and a tendency towards anti-social behavior.
Keep reading to learn about sleep habits of successful people and how to adapt these habits into your own life.
Insomnia is Holding You Back
Insomnia is a fairly common problem for a lot of women today. According to many projections, as many as one in every 10 – 12 people are likely to suffer from insomnia at some point in their lives.
Insomnia and Your Professional Life
Why is this a problem?
Because it not only affects your personal life, but your professional life as well.
Insomnia can keep you from progressing in your career because when you are tired and worn out from lack of sleep, you lack productivity and motivation. Your desire to succeed is very limited.
First Steps to Battling Insomnia
New technologies are currently in development to reduce the amount of sleep disturbance that can be attributed to the glow emitted by displays on electronic devices.
Concerned health professionals have begun to find new classifications for the ways that technology is affecting its heaviest users.
And if health professionals are fussing about it, it’s easy to conclude that insomnia is a serious concern. Especially when the studies suggest that the low quality of sleep is linked to cognitive impairment.
If you’re someone who has some form of insomnia, then it’s very likely that you’ve experienced some negative effects already.
When life is stressful, it can lead to reduced sleep. Less sleep makes you more irritable and more prone to rash or unfocused decision making. Of course, there are a lot of other issues associated with lack of sleep that can have unintended and long-lasting effects on life.
Successful People Stick to a Strict and Consistent Sleep Schedule
The first sleep habit you will notice in most successful people is that they have a regular sleep schedule that follows their nighttime routine.
It’s a good idea to follow some sort of sleep schedule that you and your body can depend on.
Having these set times lets your body know that it can operate on a routine and that processes essential to living and healing will be able to take place.
Why a Good Sleep Schedule?
Having a consistent sleep schedule will help to relieve stress on your system and to regulate your temperament.
A firm schedule is the building block for your nighttime routine. If you don’t know when you need to go to sleep each night, it’s hard to motivate yourself to start the nighttime ritual.
Your nighttime routine might include activities like meditating, writing in a journal, or tucking your kids in bed. But it is hard to follow without having a proper schedule.
Many successful people go to sleep around the same time each night, making sure they are in bed without distractions according to their schedule.
Statistics About Sleep and Success
Studies of the sleep habits of successful people around the world reveal that even though they may sleep at different times, similar patterns of closely curated routines emerge.
Out of the people looked at, the ones who got more sleep seem to go to bed earlier.
The fact of the matter is that you need sleep, and if you don’t your performance suffers.
Which could spell tragedy if you have the responsibility to run a major company or if you’re a carer.
Successful People Adhere to a Regular Routine
If you want to follow successful people’s advice for getting better sleep, the first thing to address is making sure that you keep things routine.
This means that you shouldn’t really deviate from that schedule on your days off. Neglecting the routine on your days off can make it a lot harder for you to stick to the daily plan.
- Unplug
Since you’ve now read that those electronic devices can be a hindrance to proper sleep, you can try reading books before bed instead of watching tv or internet videos.
Turning off your electronics can help you to sleep a lot better. You’ve already read about the light that they emit.
But sleep can be interrupted by calls and other notifications from games and social media. Try shutting down anything that could cause a disruption at night.
2. Gratitude
Another thing you can do is be sure to recount positive experiences from your day.
Take some time to think about the things that you were thankful for during that day. That can help you to improve your mindset for the day and connect with the feelings from those moments. You can also take a moment to include the things that you hope to accomplish in the following day.
This provides an excellent opportunity for writing in your journal, whether it is your daily journal, or one specifically used for expressing gratitude.
3. Clear Your Mind
Try not to go to bed with things just floating around in your mind.
Sometimes people keep things on their minds constantly in the hopes that they can guilt themselves into completing whatever tasks.
This is more harmful than good because it keeps you in a perpetual state of panic.
Write down some of those things in a journal or planner to get it off your mind and safely in a page so you can focus your body on healing and resting.
4. Environment
How does the temperature in your bedroom feel?
Researchers have discovered that cooler, darker rooms are better for going to sleep.
If you have trouble sleeping, you can try lowering the temperature to about 65 degrees. That’ll put your body into a relaxed state.
The Dangers of Neglecting Your Sleep
A lot of busy and stressed-out people seem to have forgotten that getting good rest at night is essential if they plan to continue to be alive.
All machines experience some form of wear from daily use, and they need to be worked on from time to time.
The same is true of the human body and it’s need for sleep.
Lack of Sleep and Your Mental Health
Over time, lack of sleep can severely affect your mood and ability to relate to others.
Within a few days of not sleeping, you might even experience various types of hallucinations. You will also have trouble recalling information from memory.
If you continue with a lack of sleep past this point, your relationships are likely to begin to break down. As you withdraw from others, it can become easy to become subject to overindulgence in substances.
A tired mind can and eventually will shut down randomly just so that it can catch a quick break at different points in the day.
Which could cause a disaster if you’re driving a car, flying a plane, or any other type of machinery then could effectively be dangerous to a person who is suddenly unconscious during operation.
Physical Dangers
While all of these things are dangerous, the greatest danger comes to your organs and body in general.
That lack of sleep will weaken your heart, and lack of sleep can cause process to misfire.
This is a really bad thing to happen, especially if the misfire happens in a part of the brain that controls your breathing, or heart.
Bad Sleep Habits to Avoid
As you can tell by now, successful people take their sleep and daily routines very seriously.
But another thing they are known for is avoiding some bad habits.
If you have a desire to be more successful in whatever career path you have chosen for yourself, it is a good idea to avoid these bad sleep habits.
5. Eating Before Bed
A lot of people get hungry later in the day.
Instead of eating a sandwich or diving out to a fast-food restaurant, try drinking a glass of water first.
Until you learn to recognize hunger cues, that feeling of hunger in your stomach could also just be dehydration.
If after drinking a glass of water you still feel hungry, you can then have a snack.
However, try to stick to healthier snacks and those that don’t contain caffeine when it is close to bedtime.
You also want to avoid foods that might cause heartburn, such as citrus, spicy, and acidic foods.
A good rule of thumb is to not eat or drink anything, aside from water, starting 2-3 hours before bed.
With the exception being a cup of tea if you need it ot help you sleep.
6. Drinking Caffeine and Alcohol Late
It’s pretty amazing how many people drink caffeine late even though they know that it’s a stimulant.
You should always avoid drinking anything that contains stimulants before bedtime.
Alcohol can also be an issue for a lot of people. Some fall into the habit of drinking large amounts before going to bed to help them relax.
But the things to remember is that while your body is processing the alcohol, it’s waking up parts of your system. And this will usually result in you suddenly finding yourself awake at bizarre hours.
7. Beds Are for Sleep
When you’re a person who loves to lounge, it can be really easy to fall into the habit of working or completing tasks while sitting or lying in bed.
The bad thing about this, is that you’re subconsciously conditioning yourself to be in the mindset that bed means work.
If you just have a room, find a way to put a desk or writing surface in there. That way when you lie down, you’ll be thinking of rest instead of what you need to do tomorrow.
8. No Lights
Light is the universal sign for being awake to the human body.
If you want to sleep better, it’s a good idea to get rid of any kind of lit, blinking or flashing lights.
If it’s impossible to avoid, you might to try finding a comfortable eye-covering sleep mask.
9. Oversleeping Is Also Bad
It’s a sad thing for some people, but you can actually oversleep.
Doctors have found that sleeping too much can result in damage to your body. Conditions like heart issues and diabetes can be cause by staying in bed for too long.
More Good Sleep Habits
At this point, you’ve already heard a lot about the thing that aren’t good for you, and the things that you shouldn’t be doing. But now it’s a good time to look at the things that you want to do.
One of the best ways to do this is make it a goal to add one of these things to your every few days.
As it becomes a part of your routine, you’ll be likely to see some really major changes in not only the way you feel.
But also how you interact with others, and how you feel about completing your daily tasks.
10. Meditation
Stress is the primary reason for the lack of sleep among most people. It’s important to learn how to control how you process and react to information that you internalize each day.
If you allow yourself to focus on the tiny things that displease you in a day, your mind can spiral into a negative maelstrom.
Meditation allows you to practice deliberate relaxation. When you take time to visualize a calm environment, you are using your mind to illicit a relaxation response in your body and mind.
Most meditation methods include careful focus on breathing to help you to feel more peace and calm. This can be extremely helpful when you’re getting ready to sleep.
11. Get Some Physical Activity
Getting of excess energy can help to calm anxiety and soothe stress.
Increasing your heart rate and getting blood into your extremities is really great for your health.
Get out and walk or do some other mellow exercise to start out.
Keep it super short if it’s before bed because too much activity will wake your body up before bed.
12. Recall Positive Events
Think about something that happened that was a positive event, or even a positive interaction with a person.
Focus on the reality that there are great people in the world that can cross your path for a moment or a lifetime that give you a warm feeling.
13. Drink Lots of Water
Hydration is a serious issue for some people.
Drinks are loaded with sugars and preservatives and can leave you feeling dehydrated.
Try getting a few glasses of water in your system every 2 hours until evening.
Drinking too much fluid before bed could lead to getting up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night.
14. Laugh Often
Humor is a better way to cope with adversity and negative thoughts.
Find things that bring you joy and try not to take everything so seriously.
Appreciate the bizarre ironies in life. You might be surprised to see what things you notice.
Conclusion
So what do you think?
I hope that these simple and really just common-sense tips will help you get a good sleep and the peaceful rest you deserve. It just might spare you the torments of burnout and insanity!
I only wish Vincent had known…
Disclaimer:
This article was written by Zuzana Halliwell. I am not a doctor or mental health professional and cannot be held liable for the information written here. This article is meant to provide information to help you get better quality sleep. For medical assistance, please seek help from a medical or mental health professional.
